If you look at the most common used applications on the Internet today, web-based email is in the top 3 along with other programs like messenger apps. Contrary to some social media pundits, Facebook and the like will never completely take the place of email; it may make a dent in some demographic groups (think younger audiences who want to broadcast everything they’re doing to everyone they know), but for 1-on-1 directive communication (think business users) there is no substitute. I have about 4 web-based email accounts along with another 2-3 aliases that direct to one of these four. The reason for this many accounts is the subject of another blog, but the simple fact is that I probably would not have this many if it wasn’t so easy to setup a new account. Plus, the real advantage is the elimination of the email client like Outlook and Eudora that people used in the 90’s. Yes, I still use Outlook today to download important files from my web based account, but when you’re on the go – checking mail from wherever you have an Internet connection is really handy.
So what’s the downside of web-based email accounts. Well, if you go with a service that is very popular like Gmail, Yahoo or Windows Live Mail you will have a hell of a time finding a username you want. But even if you get past that hurdle, the bigger problem is one that I recently discovered on my Gmail account. There are literally so many users with similar usernames, misspelling and email address by just 1-letter is bound to have your email end up in someone else’s inbox. This is fine if you’re just forwarding the latest viral video, but could be disastrous if you’re sending someone flight information, personal info, or worse – the username and password to some account you have.
There is even a bigger problem with web based apps like Gmail which allow you to forward your Gmail email to another account. What if you accidently setup the forwarding address incorrectly? Well, that is exactly what someone has done to me. From what I can gather, a girl in the California area has setup her Gmail account to forward mail to an email address that is very similar to mine. For the past 6 months I have tried to contact this person via email and regular postal mail to no avail. With so much garbage on the Internet today, she has probably looked at my notices as some type of SPAM or Internet Scam. The bad thing is that the only reason I was able to send her a snail mail is because I have received her home address many times over from all the sites she has subscribed to. I can tell you what games she plays, what she reads, what school she attends and the last 20+ songs she has downloaded from iTunes (hmmm, kinda like Google can - I digress). It makes me shiver just thinking about it. From what I gather on Gmail’s support forums this is what happened:
In checking emails that come addressed to her I can clearly see my email address in her “X-Forwarded-For” information. Apparently Gmail is not much help in resolving these types of matters, but I worry about people who may have their info fall into the wrong hands. Lucky for this girl, I have no intent of doing anything malicious with the info, but it is pretty annoying.
So what’s the lesson in all of this? When setting up a new email account, always check and double-check that you have correctly entered the right username you want plus the right forwarding information. I always send myself and close friends test messages to look at all the email headers to ensure nothing is out of whack. And when sending something important to other people that use a popular web based email account, make sure you have the right address.
Be safe!!
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